Many consumable products are manufactured in the form of spirally-wound rolls, e.g., paper towels and gift wrap. While these products can be unwound from the roll entirely by hand, there are a number of devices in the prior art to aid in dispensing product from the roll. These range from simple support of the roll, such as a single upright spindle upon which the axis of the roll is vertically installed, to cabinets into which a product roll is placed and which have mechanisms for dispensing product.
For simplicity of further discussion, and because the most common product roll dispensed is paper or similar nonwoven web material, the terms “paper”, “paper towel” and “paper towel roll” will be used hereinafter instead of “product” and “product roll”. However, it should be understood that the present invention can be adapted to virtually any spiral-wound sheet product.
Recent U.S. patents to Byrd, et al., specifically U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,772,291, 6,105,898 and 6,293,486, disclose electrically-driven paper dispensers incorporating a photocell which causes a motor to unroll paper when an object (such as a human hand) blocks light entering it. One patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,176) combines electrically-actuated unwinding with electrically-actuated cutting; a bi-directional motor moves the paper when turning in one direction and cuts it when turning in the other direction.
The prior art does not, however, provide the user separate hands-free control of the amount of paper dispensed and the timing of cutting the paper off. There is a need for this because there are various conceivable circumstances in which the user may not be ready to take the paper as soon as the machine rolls it out to the desired length, or the user may decide after unrolling a certain length to further extend the amount of paper to be cut off.
Another problem with the prior art is that either the paper is released before the user is ready to take it, or the user has to pull too hard to take the paper from the machine. The latter can be a problem especially if the user's hands are wet.
Yet another problem with the prior art is that many dispensers are designed to handle only one specific paper, e.g., thin, low-cost hand towels. If other paper grades are used in these types of dispensers, feed and cutting problems may result. There is a need for a dispenser that can be used with all grades of commercial as well as household paper towels.
Yet another problem with prior art dispensers is that parts driven at high speed are stopped by surfaces, such as bumpers, in the machine, which leads to excessive noise and impact wear.
There is also room for simplifying mechanisms for the holding of the paper by machine parts during and after cutting, which is addressed by the present invention.